- Gnosis unveils Gnosis Pay and Gnosis Card, a decentralized payment network and a Visa-certified consumer debit card directly linked to an on-chain self-custodial wallet.
- The Gnosis Card allows consumers to make purchases directly from their Safe wallets, using stablecoins on the Visa payment system.
In a significant stride towards bridging the gap between cryptocurrency and everyday transactions, Gnosis has introduced Gnosis Pay and Gnosis Card. This move allows stablecoin holders to purchase products and services easily with Visa’s payment system.
Introducing Gnosis Pay and Gnosis Card
Gnosis, an Ethereum sidechain, announced on Monday the launch of its groundbreaking Gnosis Pay and Gnosis Card. According to the Gnosis press release, Gnosis Pay is the first decentralized payment network to integrate with a traditional payment processor, and Gnosis Card is the first Visa-certified consumer debit card directly linked to an on-chain self-custodial wallet.
The Gnosis Card, leveraging the Visa payment system, connects directly to the user’s on-chain account. It is built on the Gnosis Pay decentralized payment network. In this setup, users’ wallets – specifically Safe wallets – function similarly to bank accounts, with each Gnosis Card connected to the user’s Safe account.
Gnosis Pay will also work as a Layer 2 to the Gnosis chain, thus allowing faster and cheaper transactions. Stefan George, Gnosis co-founder and Gnosis Pay’s Chief Technology Officer, told CoinDesk,
“From a user experience point of view, it’s exactly the same experiences everyone’s used to but under the hood of using crypto to settle your payments.”
The concept of Gnosis Card emerged during a ski trip in the French Alps, where George exchanged thoughts with a SaltPay executive. The conversation revolved around the workings of blockchain technology and its potential integration into daily life.
George told CoinDesk,
“The idea came that we should try to actually work together to kind of bridge the world between what they are doing and what we are doing. Ultimately, I think that’s the only way we can actually get more adoption for crypto. We have to build bridges to the old world.”
Although Gnosis spun out Safe as a separate entity last July, the close ties between the two persist, which is evident in the use of Safe wallets in Gnosis’ latest products. George highlighted the symbiotic relationship, stating,
“Safe is supporting Gnosis Pay through the development they’re doing on the smart contracts, which we are now leveraging for every single card that’s being shipped.”
